The Wolf took a single step into the room, looking around slowly. “I heard yelling,” the Wolf said, his voice restrained, barely controlled.

“I-I was yelling a-at my new pet,” Phaedra said, her voice weak. She had to breathe eventually. Probably. If her body could ever remember how.

“What happened to your furniture?” the Wolf asked.

“A-a-a-a-accident,” Phaedra said while she silently begged her body to just inhale. One breath. Just one.

“Did she do this?” the Wolf asked before finally coming to a stop in front of her.

Phaedra tried to say no, but with the Wolf’s eyes focused on her like they were, all she could do was give a light little squeak. Just one breath. It was all she needed. Just one. If she could just get one little gasp of air, maybe she could talk again.

The Wolf reached down and put a hand on the side of her head. She gave another little whimper and tried not to imagine his fingers wrapping around and then tearing the small horns from her skull. Or crushing her head like a grape. Or just slowly digging a claw into her skull and cutting it open inch by inch while she screamed. Or--

“Dear?” Fenrir asked. “Honey? You’re so pale. What’s wrong? Did that dragon hurt you?”

Phaedra finally managed to inhale. “N-no!” she yelled before breaking into a fit of coughing. She lifted a hand up to her mouth, covering it. “No! I had it under control, Daddy! Why did you break my door?”

“I thought you might be in danger, my little lamb chop,” Fenrir said before gently petting her head.

“Daddyyyyyy!” Phaedra said before reaching up a hand to knock his away. “I can handle her! I put her to sleep, didn’t I?”

“Only after she bit you,” Fenrir said, though he pulled his hand back. “What happened in here? Those chains should have prevented her from moving at all.”

“They did!” Phaedra said. “I just got annoyed and kicked my bed! That’s all!”

Fenrir blinked a few times before glancing around the room. He then turned to her and crossed his arms. “Is that really the story you’re going with, dear?”

Phaedra gulped and then looked around. The broken shelving, the torn up bed, the cracks in the wall. She shrunk down a little bit before nervously poking her fingers together. “P-promise not to be mad at me, Daddy?”

“You know I could never be mad at you,” Fenrir said with a gentle smile. Unfortunately it allowed her an ample view of those fangs of his.

“Promise?” Phaedra said, unable to stop herself from trembling.

Fenrir’s gaze lowered to the blanket. “Phaedra, get up.”

Phaedra shook her head. “N-no.”

“What did you do?” Fenrir asked.

“N-nothing!” Phaedra said quickly.

“PHAEDRA!” the Wolf’s voice echoed through the room. “STAND ASIDE!”

Phaedra didn’t move aside from closing her eyes and cowering from him, tears beginning to fall down her face.

“N-no, no, I’m sorry,” Fenrir said in a soft, soothing tone. A moment later she felt his hand gently stroking her face as a thumb wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, my little lamb chop. I’m not mad at you. I’m merely annoyed at your… pet. I’m sorry I raised my voice at you.”

Phaedra gulped and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at him. “I-I can handle her. Y-you said I could have her. U-uncle Obby b-brought her for me, didn’t he? W-why can’t I d-do what I want with her?”

Fenrir gave a soft sigh before glancing down at the blanket covering the dragon. “Very well. What did you do?”

“I… removed some of her chains,” Phaedra said softly. “So she could take a smaller… form…”

Fenrir gave a light, amused chuckle. “I see. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that she was now something you could hide under your blankets?”

“I ummmm… hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Phaedra said sheepishly, barely managing to resist giving a little baa. “I didn’t expect you to come and break down my door before I was ready.”

“Ready?” Fenrir asked, cocking an eye at her now. “Ready to what?”

“To show that I could tame her,” Phaedra said. She felt the blanket shift slightly under her and heard a low growl from underneath it. “You’re really undermining any authority I have when you do this, Daddy. How am I going to ever be a great demon lord like you if every time I try to act like one, you come in and ruin everything?”

“Phaedra,” Fenrir said in a soft, affectionate tone. “You will be a fine demon lord one day. Just like me. But you need to take slow steps. Even chained, she could be dangerous to you.”

“She’s not to you,” Phaedra said bitterly. “I can handle her! You do this every time! I thought this was the whole point of finally letting me out of that prison? So everyone could see I existed and how strong I could be? It doesn’t mean anything if you just come in and try and fight all my battles for me when you do it!”

Fenrir gave a soft sigh before standing and walking over to her shelves. He leaned down to pick up one of the partially shredded stuffed animals, then tossed it aside. “Are you certain you have this handled?”

“I did before you came in and made it all weird,” Phaedra said. “Nobody is going to respect me as a demon if you keep trying to fight all my battles for me. She’s covered in magical chains. If I can’t even handle her, then what CAN I handle? Is it because I’m a sheep? Like Mom?”

“This has nothing to do with you being a sheep,” Fenrir said. “You are my daughter first and foremost. Regardless of--”

“Maybe if you’d let me try and earn some respect, I’d actually have some,” Phaedra said. “Rather than just your laughing stock who everyone expects you’ll replace.”

She cringed when the Wolf’s claw reached out, gripping one of the shelves and crushing it to tinder in his hand. For a moment she wondered if she had gone too far. However, after a moment he took a slow, careful breath before turning to face her. “Very well, my little lamb chop. I trust you will keep everything well in hand.” Fenrir then walked back to her before kneeling. She cringed when he reached out to cup the side of her head, gently stroking a thumb under her eyes again. “You are not a laughing stock. You are my daughter. There is nothing wrong with being a sheep. If your mother was still with us, she’d--”

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“She would have trusted me to handle one measly chained up dragon,” Phaedra said.

Fenrir cringed before, very slowly, giving a nod. “She would have. I’m so very sorry for worrying about my baby girl,” he said in a teasing tone before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Phaedra pulled back before he could, however. “Daaaaaad… not in front of the guards,” she said, her cheeks burning. “I’m a grown demon now.”

“Awww, no child is ever too old for their father to still love them,” Fenrir said before chuckling and pulling his hand back. She let out a sigh of relief, only for him to lean in suddenly a moment later and give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Daaaaaaad!” Phaedra said again, her wool growing out around herself to try and protect from his affection. “You’re making it worrrrrrse!”

Fenrir just gave a light laugh before getting to his feet. “Fine, fine. No more yelling, though. I’ll… have this door fixed soon.” He turned to leave, before pausing. “And dragon. Know this. If you so much as leave a single scratch on my daughter, I will not hesitate to unleash a hell upon--”

“Daddy!” Phaedra yelled. “Undermining me! AGAIN!”

Fenrir gave another soft sigh before shaking his head. “Very well. I love you, my little lamb chop.”

“Yeah, I, ummm… love you too… Daddy…” Phaedra said, her eyes never leaving him while he walked away. He awkwardly tried to put the door back on his way out, however as it was in three separate pieces and part of the wall had been removed, it did little to give her any privacy. She muttered a quick incantation before slamming her palm on the ground, causing the stone of the doorway to grow, sealing it. “I’m keeping that up until someone comes to fix my door!” Phaedra yelled.

“Honey! Take that wall down this instant!” Fenrir yelled from the other side.

“Then fix my door!” Phaedra yelled.

Fenrir gave a frustrated yell, but she didn’t hear him doing anything so she hoped that meant he’d accepted her choice. For now. She let out a sigh of relief…

Which was replaced with a grunt when suddenly the blanket under her rose up, sending her head over hooves on the ground. She stared upside down at the dragon, who was still glaring at her. At least she hadn’t grown again. “Pet?” Yroth asked, her voice filled with barely contained rage.

“‘Oh, thank you, Phaedra, for making sure the Wolf didn’t skin me alive,’” Phaedra said in a mocking voice before righting herself. “You’re welcome, really. It’s not like I’m putting myself at risk or anything for this.”

“I am nobody’s pet,” Yroth said coldly.

“You’ll BE a nobody if he finds out,” Phaedra said before glancing around. Slowly she got to her hooves and collapsed on her bed. “Fine. I’ll be honest. I’m tired. Against my better judgment I am heavily invested in keeping you alive even though it will probably come back to haunt me later. Can you please just stop trying to kill me long enough so I can get you somewhere safe? After that, just… try not to get caught again or something.”

“… I still don’t believe you are Medon,” Yroth said.

“Then please stop calling me that,” Phaedra said. “I never even liked that name. You know that? I hated it. It was a stupid name. I mean, I’m sure the person who had it before me probably liked it. But I hated it.”

“Medon is the name of great--”

“I know what it is,” Phaedra said. “I know EXACTLY what it is. It’s the name that was given to all great heroes that have been summoned to save this world from calamity and with it, the divine duty to so on and so forth. To forsake it is treasonous and all that. Never mind I never WANTED to be some Medon. But nooooo. It was my duty, wasn’t it? I… oh, forget it. Right. You’re probably not… Yroth, I’m sorry. It has just been the longest day. Week. Month. Years. Longest years. Did you know how long it takes for a demon to be considered ‘of age’ here?”

“Yes?” Yroth said, her own ire replaced with bewilderment.

“Now so do I,” Phaedra said. “Did you know most humans would be dead now? Or at least incredibly old. I think? I wasn’t actually that old when I was brought here. I wonder if anyone I knew is still alive. Probably not. Unless there’s like a whole time thing. Well, I guess I’ll never know. After all, I failed! So now I’m stuck here. And apparently the only person in this whole castle I can talk to about it thinks I’m Dad’s… I don’t know. What do you think I’m doing? Playing mind games?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Yroth said, still staring at her.

“… I’m sorry,” Phaedra said again. “I just… I… I have had a really long day. I didn’t know you were going to be here, you know? I thought you were dead. I heard you’d finally been defeated and… I thought you were dead. Like… like everyone else.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes and quickly lifted an arm up and over her eyes. “I thought you were… gone. Then I saw you and I just… they wanted me to kill you. To… to take your heart and… to just… I can be kind of clever when I have to be, though. I mean, I think so. Okay, probably not. But… Dad lets me get away with a lot since Mom…” Phaedra stopped and took a long, slow breath. She tried to force the tears back before she lowered her arm. “I imagine it’s been a long, difficult day for you, huh? I mean… you… lost. They…”

“It has,” Yroth said with a low growl.

“I know you hate my guts probably,” Phaedra said before slowly sitting up and looking at her. “But ummmm… can I ask… how?”

Yroth spread her wings and started to walk towards her. A wicked grin formed on her lips before she lifted up her right hand. “Here, let me sh--”

She was cut off when Phaedra hit her with her pillow. “Don’t even try that,” Phaedra said. “Sure, I’ll admit it was kind of funny when you did it to me the first time. But no. Bad dragon. Bad.”

Yroth blinked a few times, her eyes wide and staring at her. For a few moments she thought, finally, the dragon was going to believe her. She then shook her head and hmphed. “I see. Very well. I will tell you, but first, I want to know how.”

“How what?” Phaedra asked.

“You say you are Medon,” Yroth said before gesturing towards her. “Tell me, how did you become the daughter of the Wolf? A mere sheep?”

“I told you, I don’t know. I just… am,” Phaedra said. “Ask the people who brought me here.”

“Of course,” Yroth said. “Fine then. It has been nearly a century since Medon died. If you truly are him, where have you been?”

Phaedra sighed and dropped back onto the bed before giving a low groan. “Oh, that’s a story. Can I just--”

“You desire me to believe you are Medon,” Yroth said. “Consider this a first test of how true that is.”

Phaedra gave a low, annoyed groan. It seemed she didn’t have much choice. “Fine. But I’m telling you the abridged version.”

“There’s… a bridge… involved?” Yroth asked.

“It… it means shorter version,” Phaedra said. “It’s from my world. Don’t worry about it. Here, do you want to sit on the bed?”

Yroth nodded before turning and sitting down incredibly hard. Hard enough that another leg on the bed crumbled and the bed’s padding shifted, tossing Phaedra off and onto the ground with a shriek.

Phaedra just laid there on the ground for a few seconds before giggling. “You did that on purpose,” she said.

“Perhaps,” Yroth said.

“Bratty lizard,” Phaedra said.

“Pathetic lamb,” Yroth said.

“Pompous snake,” Phaedra said.

“Sniveling ewe,” Yroth said.

“I missed you,” Phaedra said, unable to keep the smile off her face. Even if she had been tossed off her bed less than gracefully.

“You’re stalling,” Yroth said.

“No, I’m procrastinating,” Phaedra said.

“Get on with it, demon,” Yroth said before laying back. A moment later the last leg of the bed gave out with a low crunching of wood.

Well, if nothing else at least her prisoner-slash-only-living-friend would be comfortable during her story. Phaedra just wished she could be.